Advent Children
by black201
Summary: Cloud Strife was having trouble moving on since the event of Meteor. When three men appear, looking for Mother, Cloud must take up his sword once more and come to terms with his past. Advent Children Novelization


Author's Note: Well, I don't think I've seen an Advent Children novelization. So, I decided to do one. This is my first attempt at a novel (or a movie in written form, to be more specific) so excuse me for any errors. I've tried to keep as close to the movie as possible, even to the point where I copy down the dialogue word for word. However, I will take a few liberties.

I will be editing the dialogue where I deem it should've been more natural. I won't go any further, unless there was a mistake in the dialogue, which I will promptly correct. But, as said before, I will keep it as close as possible.

Also, I'm switching scenes, adding and omitting them whenever the situation calls for it. When transitioning something from one form to another, it is near impossible to keep certain things intact. For example, I moved the Reno, Tseng and Elena scene at the beginning of the movie to a flashback later on. This is due to the fact that an opening in written form didn't seem right with Reno first. That's why I skipped ahead to the monologue. I will also add some scenes, which are not necessary but nice to have, so I will be able to omit them or keep them on a moment's whim without any loss of coherency. The one I look forward to the most is the Vincent Rescue scene but it's not 100 decided.

Fighting scenes and character appearances will also be moved about, but I do not want to ruin what the movie was. Since I don't have to animate Cait Sith and Red XIII, I will involve them a bit more. I WILL have Cait Sith use his Moogle, although when I write up the chapter of Cait Sith's introduction, I might omit it, depending on what the situation calls for. I might even have Red XIII speak more than one line! But I digress.

Also, I WILL leave Cloud's feelings for Tifa and Aerith ambiguous. I will have a bit of romance between both, but there won't be a definite answer. Although I prefer Cloud/Aerith, I won't insult the Cloud/Tifa fans, since both romances are possible and I want to make everyone happy.

Well, now that you read through all that author's junk, here's the beginning of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Enjoy!

XXXXXXXXXX

The Planet's Anger

_The Lifestream. That's what we call the river of life that circles our planet, giving light to the world and everything in it. The Shinra Electric Power Company found a way to use the Lifestream as an energy source. Because of Shinra, we were able to live very comfortable lives. But wasn't that because we were taking away from the planet's life? A lot of people thought so._

_Shinra used their power to try and stop anybody who got in their way. Shinra had a special group of warriors called SOLDIER. And all of the SOLDIERs had Jenova cells put inside them. Jenova was a calamity that fell from the sky a long, long time ago and tried to destroy the planet._

_Anyway, there was one SOLDIER who was better than the rest, Sephiroth. But when he found out about the terrible experiments that made him, he began to hate Shinra. And then, over time, he began to hate everything._

_Shinra, and the people against them fought Sephiroth, who hated the planet so much, that he wanted to make it go away, and the people who tried to stop him. _

_There were many battles. With each battle, there was more sadness. Someone I love went back to the Lifestream too._

_And then, it came. The chosen day. In the end, the planet itself had to make the battles stop for good. The Planet used the Lifestream as a weapon, and when it burst out of the earth, all the fighting, all the greed and sadness…everything was washed away._

"_Sadness was the price to see it end." It was two years since they told me that._

The city of Edge was a bustling one. There was always people and cars moving about, going from destination to destination. The streets were filled with grime and dirt, and the air was ripe with pollution. Yet, the people did not mind it. After all, the people were recovering still, from the events that had all brought them to their knees two years prior.

In the center of the city was a monument, a testament to the near catastrophic event. It depicted Meteor, the spell summoned by Sephiroth, the legendary SOLDIER that had come close to destroying them all. Surrounding it was the towering buildings of Edge, reminiscent of the city Midgar, the place that Meteor had forced it into becoming a barren wasteland. Although it was a very industrial town, with the cold metal of any city being common place, it was a step down from Midgar, but they were glad. The people no longer wanted to call Midgar as home, only waiting for the time they could put the planet's ordeal behind them.

_But, it looks like the planet is a lot madder than we thought._

Marlene, a young girl of only 8, watched as her very best friend, Denzel, a 10-year old, suffered on his bed. Under his messy brown hair, was a large, black mark, oozing with black pus on his forehead, contrasting against his pale skin. The rag that was covering it fell off as Denzel turned, breathing heavily as he wrapped himself in the warm wool blanket of his bed.

_They call it Geostigma._

Denzel opened his eyes, holding his hand to his forehead, revealing his soft sapphire eyes. "Well, Marlene, how does it look?" Denzel asked, through a small sad smile.

Marlene, her brown eyes filled with sadness and fear, cast off her frown with a faint smile as she placed the rag back upon Denzel's forehead. She pressed her pale skinned hand gently on it, sitting down on the seat beside Denzel's bed. She tugged at the pink ribbon holding her neat brown hair in a ponytail, wishing the original owner of it was there with her.

_Please. Please don't take Denzel away._

The phone in the nearby room rang, although Marlene did not get up to answer, afraid of leaving Denzel. Downstairs, in the Bar 7th Heaven that also served as a part of Marlene and Denzel's home, Tifa Lockhart, the owner of the bar, and only a woman of 22, did not go to pick it up either.

Tifa was washing glasses at the sink that sat underneath a light fixture, her long black hair a bit dampened from the undertaking, listening to the faint hum of the ceiling fan. She continued to ignore the phone, feeling a bit fed up with the calls they had been receiving lately.

"He's not here anymore," Tifa called out to no one in particular, still washing glasses. After a few more moments, she sighed and stopped the running water, drying her hands off with a small rag near the sink. She walked across the creaking wooden floor and up the stairs to the floor with her and the two children's bedrooms. She turned toward the door leading into Denzel's room, resting her hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Cloud. Where are you?" Denzel whispered, staring up into the ceiling.

Tifa frowned as she heard Denzel's words, feeling a bit ashamed at being annoyed with the children, and walked into a large room that was the known office of Strife Delivery Services. Although the business was essentially one room and Cloud, it still helped pay the bills and keep 7th Heaven going. She passed a glance at a framed picture of her, Marlene, Denzel and Cloud resting on Cloud's desk. She and the children stood in front of the bar, at the center of the picture, smiling at the camera, while Cloud stood far off, emotionless. The picture may have had three glowing smiles, but it was far from a truly happy one.

Denzel and Marlene adored Cloud greatly, with Denzel seeing Cloud as his father (seeing how he was an orphan) while Marlene thought of Cloud as something of a very close uncle. It disappointed them when he had missed important days and events (even birthdays), which were quite often. It didn't help the situation when Denzel caught Geostigma several weeks ago, effectively keeping him in bed. Cloud always came and saw him whenever possible, but it was far too sparse to be of any comfort to Denzel.

Tifa knew he cared about them, and knew that he didn't enjoy disappointing them, but he didn't seem ready to become part of the strange family they had become over the past two years. She still hoped that he wouldn't go out on his own all the time; it was bad enough that he spend so much time with deliveries. Of course, she couldn't expect Cloud, who had faced so much two years ago, to be the happy go lucky guy she wished she was. Maybe time was all he needed.

Sighing, Tifa picked up the slender phone mounted on the base, holding it to her ear. "Hello. Strife Delivery Service. You name it, we deliver. May I ask who's calling?" Tifa smiled at the voice on the other end. "Yeah, I remember you."

XXXXXXXXX

Cloud Strife listened to the voice of Tifa that was recorded in the message box on his phone. He sat on his motorcycle, Fenrir, having just left Edge a while ago. He was on the grounds surrounding the city of Edge, the cloud sickeningly gray, reflective of Cloud's own perpetual mood.

"You got a call from Reno. He's in Healin. He says he's got a job for you. Cloud, how have you been?" Tifa's voice said, the last sentence filled with curiosity and worry. The automated message telling him he had no more messages came up, and Cloud closed his phone, stuffing it back into his pocket.

Cloud, with his emotionless expression, slipped his goggles back over his eyes, readying to start his motorcycle. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from his left shoulder, spreading into his sleeve covered arm. The pain was incredibly brief but horribly intense, with unidentifiable images flashing through his mind at an incredible pace. Cloud held his hand to his left bicep tenderly, knowing the mark that was underneath. He knew that eventually, Tifa and the children would find out about it, he couldn't hide it forever.

_They call it Geostigma_

Pushing the pain and the consequences of his being found out to the back of his mind, Cloud started his vehicle.

Cloud's Fenrir gained speed quickly, dust kicking up into the air as he sped forward into the horizon. Cloud quickly steered his personal vehicle toward the direction of Healin through the large rock formations, estimating that it would take a time of 20 minutes if there were no interruptions. Unfortunately, an interruption did arrive.

Three motorcycles, driven by three silver haired men in black leather, stopped on the cliff overlooking the rest of the barren, lifeless area, the city of Edge casting a large shadow over it, a large blade dug into the ground near the edge. The three vehicles stopped at the edge of the cliff, one of which stopped right next to the large sword. The driver, who couldn't have been older than a late teenager, of the motorcycle kicked the blade from its resting place, which clattered onto the ground.

The man with the longesr hair, somewhere in his early 20's, that was driving the motorcycle to the right of the first driver spoke. "Hey Kadaj, is that where big brother lives?" The man asked the younger driver, gazing at the large mass of steel before them known as Edge.

"Yeah," the teenager named Kadaj answered excitedly, smiling fiendishly as his hair (which was somewhat shorter than the other man's) blew in the hot wind.

"Do you think he'll be happy to see us?"

"Not a chance," Kadaj said with a laugh.

"Don't cry Yazoo," the final man, who was around the same age as the long haired man, teased. His hair was the shortest, and was sticking upwards unlike the others. However, he seemed to be the most built, while Kadaj and Yazoo sported smaller frames.

"But Mother's with him?" Yazoo asked.

"Maybe not," Kadaj answered casually. The answer garnered a short grunt from the short haired man, who looked like he was about to cry.

"Don't cry Loz," Yazoo repeated, half mockingly.

Kadaj ignored the other two when he saw Cloud driving along on the area below them, a large plume of dust trailing behind him. He smiled. "Hold on. He's coming."

Loz stopped crying, and a smirk of satisfaction quickly formed on his face, watching down upon Cloud as well. He and Yazoo traded nods and started up their motorcycles, which began roaring loudly. Their motorcycles leapt off the cliff, the rough wheels of their vehicles landing hard against the cragged cliff wall, gaining speed rapidly as they moved closer and closer to the ground.

Kadaj made no motion to follow, but smiled as his two companions gave chase, who were quickly catching up with the still oblivious Cloud.

_Soon, Mother._


End file.
